Koh Wee Meng is the founder of Singapore-listed property developer Fragrance Group, which has a presence in Asia, Australia and Europe. From the first Fragrance Hotel, which he launched in Singapore in the 1990s, Koh has built a conglomerate that encompasses various residential, commercial, hotel and industrial properties.

Although Koh’s family is in the jewellery business—his younger brother is the CEO of Singapore-listed Aspial Corp—he decided to make his name in the hotel and property sector. From that initial Fragrance establishment, located in Geylang Lorong 10, Koh today owns a string of assets in Singapore which were valued at S$2.26 billion at the end of 2020. Among other projects, the firm is planning to re-develop the property at 15 Hoe Chiang Road across from Tanjong Pagar Terminal as a combined hotel and commercial project.

Overseas properties include its maiden project, the 79-storey mixed-use Premier Tower in Melbourne; the freehold NV Apartments in Perth’s Central Business District; and six hotels in the UK, in cities such as Manchester, Plymouth and Blackpool. His latest property acquisition is the 906-room Holiday Inn London Kensington Forum hotel in December 2021, one of the most expensive acquisitions that year at S$2.32 billion. This purchase helped turn around the United Kingdom’s hotel investments to that of a near-normal revenue during the fourth quarter.

At the end of 2020, Fragrance Group had total assets of S$3.3 billion, according to the company’s annual report that year when it was last listed on the SGX board. Koh, who kicked off efforts to take Fragrance Group private in July 2021, is also a director of investment company JK Assets and Parc Sovereign Hotel Management.